Method: the 10 Wise Ways

BrainWise CPR® is a simple, memorable sequence—Control, Process, Respond—which when learned are the first response skills that guide people through stressful situations and activate critical‑thinking skills. The BrainWise CPR framework is the foundation for learning and applying the 10 Wise Ways, the core executive‑function skills taught in the BrainWise Program.

Teaching BrainWise CPR: The Gateway to Wise Choices

C — Control Your Emotions Stress or conflict triggers an instinctive Lizard Brain response—fight, flight, or freeze. BrainWise CPR begins by teaching individuals to use the first four Wise Ways to stop and take control of this reaction, creating the mental space needed to think clearly. This step makes it possible to activate the Wizard Brain, replacing the hard-wired reactive survival response.

P — Process the Situation Once emotional control is established, individuals can then Process what is happening by using the next four Wise Ways. These skills form the structure for understanding problems, recognizing emotions, evaluating options, and anticipating consequences. Collectively, they build the neural pathways that support strong executive functioning and rational decision‑making.

R — Respond Wisely With emotions managed and information processed, individuals can choose a rational, healthy, and effective response and then communicate that response wisely, using the final two Wise Ways. These steps replace survival‑based reactions with thoughtful problem‑solving and behavior that aligns with long‑term goals and values.

The 10 Wise Ways: The Skills Behind BrainWise CPR The 10 Wise Ways are the underlying executive function skills taught in the BrainWise Program. They include skills like managing emotions, recognizing and using support systems, separating facts from opinions, identifying choices, considering consequences, evaluating decisions, setting goals, and communicating effectively. These executive skills are not innate—connections to the Wizard Brain must be taught, practiced, and reinforced over time.

Through repetition and real‑life application, the Wise Ways create the mental “wiring” required to interrupt impulsive reactions and support healthy choices. BrainWise CPR provides the structure that makes these tools usable in the heat of the moment.

Why This Matters Everyone experiences stress, pressure, and emotional triggers—and the biological response is the same for adults and children. When stress hormones surge, the Lizard Brain takes over. BrainWise CPR teaches individuals to recognize this process and intervene. Research from universities, government agencies, and independent evaluators shows that BrainWise CPR improves emotional regulation, strengthens decision‑making, and reduces impulsive or harmful behavior across age groups. This process is encapsulated in the BrainWise Problem Solving worksheets in the back of the BrainWise curricula and can be used by teachers and students in real-time situations.

A Program for Everyday Life Learning BrainWise CPR and the 10 Wise Ways give individuals a practical, teachable, and repeatable framework to handle challenges with confidence. While we cannot remove stress from life, we can prepare people of all ages to Control, Process, and Respond to events—using the 10 Wise Ways to make thoughtful, healthy choices every day.

A key characteristic of the BrainWise program is that it centers on a teaching method that doesn’t tell students what to do, but instead asks questions that help them think about what should be done and why. Modeling the behavior being taught is another important teaching tool. These techniques can help infuse the BrainWise concepts into all subjects taught in school or in programs involving students.

The BrainWise program provides the tools one needs to make a real difference in a young person’s ability to make responsible decisions.

Here is what BrainWise offers:

• Lesson Plans The BrainWise curricula contain scripted lesson plans that instructors find are flexible and easy to adapt to all problem situations. The format includes an overview of each Wise Way and provides reinforcement activities, including worksheets and checklists.
• Specific Strategies The program identifies critical thinking as a series of skills called the 10 Wise Ways. Instructors and counselors, along with their patients and students, will learn the step-by-step process to Stop and Think before taking any action. Participants will learn techniques of the BrainWise program and be guided in how to use them in many situations.
• Reinforcement Activities Retention of thinking skills is achieved with practice. The included activities give examples of how the 10 Wise Ways can be reinforced with patients and students. The activities combine kinesthetic, sensory-motor, visual, auditory, cognitive, and socio-emotional techniques—methods proven to boost comprehension, retention, and mastery of skills. The activities can be used as they are written, or teachers and students can make up their own examples.
• Teaching Aids In addition to creative reinforcement activities, the BrainWise program provides a number of Teaching Aids. These include:
  • Checklists for BrainWise mastery.
  • Problem Solving Worksheets that use BrainWise to guide individuals through the process of assessing and analyzing problems by applying the 10 Wise Ways.
  • Bookmarks listing the 10 Wise Ways that reminds participants to analyze behaviors of characters they read about.
  • Games as ongoing reinforcement. Instructors have found templates on the Internet for developing BrainWise questions for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? or Jeopardy! The instructors customize the questions to fit the ability and experience of their students or clients.
  • Entertainment Activities that include cartoons, comic books, television shows, movies, songs and computer games – all can be assessed and analyzed by applying BrainWise CPR. BrainWise Problem Solving worksheets are in the back of the BrainWise curriculum; instructors also can request a BrainWise CPR worksheet to use for these reinforcement activities.
  • BrainWise Skill Sheets can be customized for students and young clients. By placing a story on a BrainWise skill sheet containing the 10 Wise Ways, students assess and analyze the story by drawing lines from words and sentences to their corresponding thinking skill. Each curriculum contain BrainWise skill sheets with age-appropriate examples.
• Concrete Language The program’s language –e.g. Wizard Brain over Lizard Brain, Red Flags, Emotions Elevator, Fact vs. Opinion—makes higher level brain functions such as problem-solving and decision-making, very concrete and easy for students to understand. When material is easy to understand and easy to reinforce, it can be retained and applied more effectively.Using age-appropriate examples and making the activities fun ensure that critical thinking will be learned. Practice promotes mastery and will help students obtain a level of awareness where they automatically Stop and Think, using the Wise Ways to analyze a problem before reacting to it.
• Background Instructors will learn the reasoning behind each concept and activity in the BrainWise program. They will understand the psychological foundation for why students respond so well to this method of teaching critical-thinking skills..
• Common Vocabulary Early in the program, words and phrases are introduced that reinforce the 10 Wise Ways. As the vocabulary of BrainWise is used, the critical-thinking skills students are learning will be solidified.Educators know that students sometimes use words and phrases that are strange to adults, but seem to make perfect sense to them. Over the years, students have helped identify the words and phrases that best help them understand the concepts in the 10 Wise Ways. Years of experience show that, for helping students understand the important concepts of this program, these words work.\
• Encouragement BrainWise is valuable for every person of every age. Even adults do not always make the best choices. Although the most important feature of this program is that it helps children grow into responsible adults, another reported benefit is that it may strengthen an instructor’s own critical-thinking and evaluation skills. The professionals at The BrainWise Program—who developed BrainWise and have used the program successfully with thousands of children and young people—understand how challenging it is for educators to help children navigate safe journeys to adulthood.